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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29052762">Perfect Moment</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanchimo/pseuds/tanchimo'>tanchimo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Living Together</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:07:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29052762</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanchimo/pseuds/tanchimo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A search for candles leads to something a little brighter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Perfect Moment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>so I haven't written for Harry Potter since early 2004 when I was 9, and my sister (thankfully) did not let me post it.</p><p>Hopefully this is much better!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hermione didn’t mind thunderstorms. Not really, at any rate. The sound of rain against the glass windows was comforting, adding a soft ambiance to an already cozy reading nook. What Hermione <em> did </em> mind, however, was when thunderstorms made the power shut off.</p><p>From further in the flat, she heard Draco curse once and then a loud thud as he collided with a piece of furniture. Another curse, and then finally he appeared in the doorway, wand alit. “I told you that was a shit place for that end table,” he grumbled. Hermione rolled her eyes, moving over a little in case he decided to join her in the armchair.</p><p>“It’s a perfectly reasonable place for an end table,” she countered. He grumbled something under his breath that she didn’t bother hearing while she carefully placed her book onto her own small table. “I wonder how long it’ll be out this time.”</p><p>Last time there had been a thunderstorm that blew their power, it lasted most of the evening. Something about the utility workers not being able to hit their block due to a tree branch. A load of nonsense as far as she was concerned, but it wasn’t as much of a problem from her and Draco as it was for their Muggle neighbors.</p><p>It had been an adjustment, returning to the non-magical parts of the world. But Hermione was working with Muggle relations for the moment, and while it would have been easy enough to find a flat in a more magically inclined area of London, she enjoyed the simplicity this offered. Plus, it was much easier to have her parents visit her flat in an area they were somewhat familiar with than it was bringing them into Diagon Alley for tea.</p><p>Moving Draco into the flat was a totally different adjustment. Not because they didn’t mesh well together – they did, wonderfully so. It was delightfully easy compared to the other horror stories she had heard of their classmates moving in together. Harry and Ginny were the only successful couple that had taken that leap, last she heard. No, the real issue was bringing him into the Muggle world. He’d been reluctant, at first, reminding her that he had a perfectly fine family estate filled to the brim with house elves and magical luxuries.</p><p>It had been a poor choice of argument on his part, trying to appeal to her with <em> house elves </em>. They went back and forth for a few days before Hermione finally told him in no uncertain terms that she was not going to live with Draco if it also meant living with his parents.</p><p>His parents, only one of which had accepted the reality that Draco was in a committed relationship with a Muggleborn. They were still struggling to accept her as a person, let alone their son’s girlfriend. Not that she could necessarily blame them – old prejudices did not disappear overnight. Her own friends struggled with the news when she told them, Ron especially. He was angry, and it had taken months before he would speak to her again. But people, she kept insisting, could change. Draco was not the person Harry and Ron remembered from Hogwarts. It took some coaxing, and more than one threat from Ginny, but they could now get through a visit without too many pointed comments. It only took a full year to get there.</p><p>His parents would take longer to win over. Hermione knew that. She also knew that winning them over was not going to happen if she moved into their family estate.</p><p>After that, the choice was simple and here they were. Reminding him not to use magic at every single turn was a challenge, and she’d nearly hidden his wand more than once.</p><p>But he was trying. He allowed her to show him Muggle treats and games she had played with her parents as a child. He even read the local newspaper once – though he couldn’t muster up enough pretend-enthusiasm to do it a second time. It was sweet, and Hermione loved him all the more for it.</p><p>“You know you can’t just keep your wand illuminated the whole night,” she pointed out. He made a face. “Don’t give me that. We have candles.” Draco crossed his arms against his chest, wand poking out of his elbow.</p><p>For a second, he almost looked like a teenager again, pointed chin decorated in a familiar sneer. Hermione tried to hide her smile behind her hand, but she saw his own lips twitch with a smile and knew she’d been caught. “Very well. We can do this your way tonight,” he relented. “I’ve heard Muggles find candlelight to be romantic, is that true?”</p><p>“Some of them, yeah,” she agreed, uncurling her legs so she could stand up. Draco offered her a hand, grip firm as she steadied herself. “I stopped seeing the appeal after I started at Hogwarts. It loses its charm a bit after you use it for studying.”</p><p>“I would have thought that’d just make it all the more charming for you.” Hermione felt her cheeks burn a little, turning around to give him an unamused look. He was grinning, hiding it poorly behind a hand. “Sorry.”</p><p>She doubted it, but didn’t push. “Help me look for the candles, won’t you? I know they’re in here somewhere,” she said instead, grabbing her own wand off the table and muttering a soft <em> lumos </em>. While she began rifling through shelves and drawers, she heard Draco move back into another room to hopefully do the same.</p><p>Yes, she knew she could have used magic. Of course she could have. But living among Muggles meant they had to be careful, and using it for every little inconvenience would make them that much more likely to slip up.</p><p>“Maybe I put them in the bedroom,” she mumbled to herself once it was apparent the candles were not in here. Brushing some hair behind her shoulder, Hermione moved through the apartment carefully, hearing the shuffling of Draco similarly searching. She checked various spots on her way with no luck, growing only more certain that they must be hiding somewhere in the bedroom.</p><p>Hermione tore into the nightstand first, pulling out a few books she had kept in there before carefully placing them back. Not there. Huffing, and extremely tempted to let Draco have his way and just <em> accio </em> the bloody things, she moved to the other side of the bed and yanked the drawer open.</p><p>For a second, she could only stare at the insides, brain slow to register what exactly she was seeing.</p><p>“Hermione, wait, let me check the bedroom!” Draco cried from the other room. There was another thud as he ran into something, and then he was in the doorway. She looked up at him for a second, mouth slightly agape, before slamming the nightstand drawer close.</p><p>Again, their eyes met, and understanding sparked between them.</p><p>At the same time she managed to squeak out a, “I didn’t see it!” Draco groaned, “You weren’t supposed to find it yet.”</p><p>Silence settled between them, broken only by the frantic racing of her heart. When he spoke again, there was another smile tugging at his lips. “Well. This isn’t quite how I wanted to do this,” he chuckled, closing the distance between them. Hermione remained frozen in place, heart thundering away in her ears as he reached around her to retrieve the small velvet box from the drawer.</p><p>Just as he was moving down onto one knee, she snapped out of it and grabbed his arm. “Wait,” she said, voice rushed. “Wait, Draco, are you – I mean, is this – do you – <em> really? </em>”</p><p>“I wouldn’t joke about this,” Draco laughed. “I bought it a few days after I moved in, figured I would have some time to find the perfect moment or plan something.” He grinned at her, but didn’t make to get down on one knee yet. “Unless, you don’t want to?”</p><p>“I want to!” Hermione cried, shaking her head. “It’s just,” she paused, chewing on her bottom lip. “What about your family?”</p><p>His expression dropped a bit. “They’ll get over it.” Hermione’s eyebrows rose. “Or they won’t. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.” She nodded slowly, the magnitude of his words not lost on her. Draco could be giving up everything by asking her this.</p><p>And still, he lowered himself down onto one knee, eyes tracing the velvet box in his hands while he searched for the right words. “I was raised to believe that anyone who was not a pure-blood was less than me. That I was superior by virtue of my name and my blood. And, truthfully, I may have gone on thinking like that,” he looked up, eyes twinkling, “were it not for you.”</p><p>Tears were budding in Hermione’s eyes, but she let him speak. “Hermione, you are a better witch than I could ever hope to be – a better person, even. You showed me how much more there is to life and love than I could have ever dreamed of, and I love you more than I know how to express. And, if you’ll let me, I’d like to spend the rest of my life making you just as happy.” Draco took a slow breath as he held the box a little higher.</p><p>“Hermione Granger, will you marry me?”</p><p>The box clicked open, and she felt her eyes widen at the stone before her. One large diamond sat in the middle, several smaller green and red gems framing it like leaves around a flower.</p><p>If Draco was not still kneeling before her, it would have been the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.</p><p>“Yes,” Hermione breathed, tears now freely falling down her cheeks. “Yes, Draco, of course I will!” He laughed a little and met her halfway for a searing embrace. “I love you,” she mumbled against his lips, arms thrown tight around him. He pulled back just enough to cup her cheek, his own cheeks a little wet.</p><p>For a few seconds, the pair of them remained just like that.</p><p>When Draco finally moved away, he grabbed the ring box and oh so carefully slipped it onto her finger, sighing a little in relief as it slid perfectly in place. “Mother suggested I use one of her heirloom rings, but I figured you wouldn’t care for a Black family ring or something similarly gaudy,” he told her, pressing feather kisses against her knuckles.</p><p>“You guessed correctly,” Hermione laughed, admiring the ring. He grinned again, pulling her a little closer. “I love you so much.”</p><p>Hermione was still laughing as Draco pulled her in for another searing kiss, remembering only as they collapsed onto the bed that she had put the candles in the kitchen.</p><p>Well. This worked out better anyways.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you all so much for reading! please feel free to check me out on tumblr under the same username. :D</p><p>Cross-posted to FF.net.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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